Forget 'Sherlock,' This 154-Episode Detective Series Did Sherlock Holmes Better

Published Sep 30, 2026, 7:52 PM EDT

Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with extensive experience. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy, and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. With his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's tackled a wide variety of articles.

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Certain characters, like James Bond or Spider-Man, have often been reimagined in different forms of media throughout the years. One character that's thrived the most is Sherlock Holmes. Whether it's Young Sherlock, which explores the legendary detective's younger years, or Without a Clue, which bases its humor on the fact that his longtime associate Dr. Watson is the actual brains behind the operation, there's no shortage of Holmes stories. Some would argue that the BBC's Sherlock is the definitive version, as it brought Holmes into the modern era and catapulted Benedict Cumberbatch into superstardom. However, there's another modern-day take on Holmes' adventures that's worth watching.

We're talking, of course, about Elementary. First making its debut on CBS in 2012, Elementary also filters the Sherlock Holmes mythos through a modern lens. It takes some major swings in terms of how it depicts certain characters, particularly Holmes (Johnny Lee Miller) and Watson (Lucy Liu). In this take, Dr. Joan Watson is hired by Holmes' father to serve as his sober companion in New York. Very soon, Holmes starts helping the NYPD solve crimes, with Watson eventually developing her own skills as a detective. Though it was initially met with skepticism, Elementary quickly became one of the more enduring interpretations of Sherlock Holmes.

'Elementary' Remixes and Updates Sherlock Holmes Lore to Great Effect

Image via CBS

From its very first episode, Elementary proved that it was more than willing to shake up what fans knew about Sherlock Holmes. While Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories briefly touched upon the fact that Holmes partook in drugs, Elementary showcased the toll they took on his life, including how they cost him his position as a consultant for Scotland Yard. Watson's partnership with Sherlock also drastically changes, as she eventually becomes his partner in crime solving and later a detective in her own right. She even launches her own detective agency in Season 3, solving cases on her own. Even the shift to New York manages to keep the flair of Holmes' classic cases while also fitting into the procedural formula of CBS's more popular shows.

Elementary saved its biggest, and arguably its best twist, for the end of Season 1. Holmes' drug issues stem from the supposed murder of his girlfriend Irene Adler by the criminal mastermind Moriarty, which makes things personal when Moriarty resurfaces to torment the detective. While things look up for Holmes when he reunites with Irene, it's eventually revealed that Irene is Moriarty. Combining Sherlock Holmes' greatest love and his greatest enemy was a wild swing for Elementary to take, but it works thanks to Natalie Dormer's unpredictable and utterly chilling performance as Moriarty.

Collider Exclusive · Villain Personality Quiz Which Criminal Mastermind Would Be Your Nemesis? Lecter · Joker · Moriarty · Chigurh

Four of the finest criminal minds ever put on screen. One of them would look at you and see something worth their time. Eight questions decide which one comes for you, why they picked you, and what they would want when they arrived.

🍷Lecter

🃏Joker

♟️Moriarty

🪙Chigurh

MEET YOUR NEMESIS →

01

What would a criminal mastermind notice about you first? Great villains choose their opponents carefully. Something about you got their attention.

AMy manners, and everything I am careful not to say. BThat I still believe people are basically decent. CThat I am clever, and quietly enjoy proving it. DThat I handle things myself, and always have.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

How do they make first contact? The introduction tells you everything about what is coming next.

AA polite letter. Beautiful handwriting. Quietly wrong. BSomething on fire, with a message left beside it. CA puzzle, left where only I would look. DNo contact. Just the aftermath, and a coin.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

What do you actually believe about right and wrong? Every nemesis is really an argument about the thing you believe most.

AThere are lines. Mine are private and absolute. BRules are the only thing keeping us from being animals. CMorality is a system, and systems can be solved. DThings happen. Most of it was never up to me.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

What finally gets under your skin? Everybody has a pressure point. Finding yours is the whole plan.

ABeing seen clearly by somebody I cannot read. BWatching good people do something ugly. CLosing to someone who was simply better prepared. DHaving no move left that changes anything.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

They have made their move. How do you fight back? This is the part of the film where the audience finds out who you are.

ACarefully, and never where they expect to be touched. BLoudly. I would rather lose than play their game. CWith a better plan. I can out-think this. DDirectly, once, with whatever is closest to hand.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

What would they use against you? A good villain never brings a weapon you have not already handed them.

AMy privacy. I have kept far too much to myself. BMy conscience. I will not cross the line they want. CMy ego. I cannot resist a worthy opponent. DMy certainty that I can handle it alone.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

What do they actually want from you? The money is never the point. Something else always is.

ATo understand me better than anyone ever has. BTo prove I am no better than they are. CTo finally be beaten by someone worth the trouble. DNothing at all. I stepped into the wrong path.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

How does it end between the two of you? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who comes for you.

AA conversation I will be replaying for years. BA choice forced on me that has no clean answer. COne final move, and the better mind wins. DA coin in the air, and nothing I can say.

REVEAL MY NEMESIS →

The Case File Is Complete Your Nemesis Is…

Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours. Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from the encounter.

Hannibal Lecter

Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the conversation is.

• Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He never raises his voice, because he has never needed to.
• You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve is exactly the door he would knock on.
• The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence. It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person.
• He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.

The Joker

Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.

• The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence against him. It is the entire reason he showed up.
• He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool you would normally reach for.
• His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend the rest of your life proving him wrong.
• He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.

Moriarty

Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.

• Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from: a mind the equal of the hero's, pointed the wrong way.
• You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he has already built the room.
• This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs the game to be worth playing.
• It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.

Anton Chigurh

Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.

• Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
• You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no interest in how capable you are.
• No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work.
• Call it. He will wait.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'Elementary' Quickly Became One of CBS' Most Popular Series

Throughout 7 seasons and 154 episodes, Elementary wound up as one of CBS' most popular series, scoring high critical reviews and ratings throughout its run. Most of this was credited to the dynamic between Miller and Liu, as Watson and Holmes slowly grow into the iconic partnership that fans know and love. Their back and forth also adds some much-needed levity to some of Elementary's darker moments, especially a running gag where Holmes introduces Watson in a number of roles. Ironically, it took time for viewers to warm up to Elementary, as many people thought it was too similar to Sherlock. Series creator Robert Doherty pointed out that there was a history of modernizing Sherlock Holmes in adaptations, stretching back to Basil Rathbone's performance.

"Sherlock has been contemporized dating back to the forties. There were movies with Basil Rathbone set in the Victorian era, and then suddenly there were movies with Basil Rathbone in World War II where they’re fighting Nazis...because he exists mostly in the public domain, many hands have handled Sherlock over the years and Watson and the premise and the show. He’s been everywhere."

CBS would later return to the world of Sherlock Holmes after Elementary with Watson, co-created by Elementary producer Craig Sweeney and starring Morris Chestnut as John Watson, who uses the skills he acquired under Holmes to solve medical cases. Watson only lasted for two seasons, but its existence is proof that Elementary is just as influential as Sherlock.